The present invention relates to toy vehicles and is particularly directed to a toy vehicle having a gyroscopic drive flywheel.
Toy vehicles have been quite popular with children for many years, both in the form of self-propelled vehicles as well as manually propelled vehicles. There have also been instances where a gyroscopic rotor in the form of a flywheel was combined with a toy vehicle to provide a directional source of driving energy for the vehicle. An example of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,607 which issued Nov. 23, 1971. The present invention utilizes a gyroscopic flywheel as the self-propelling and supporting means for the vehicle. The flywheel is rotatably mounted on a frame so as to engage a suitable supporting surface. The frame which mounts the flywheel also is pivotal about a vertical axis relative to the vehicle body so that the vehicle can move along the supporting surface in one direction dictated by the flywheel while the vehicle body can rotate in a horizontal plane relative to the flywheel about said vertical axis.
It therefore is an object of the present invention to provide a toy vehicle of the character described having a single supporting wheel, wherein the supporting wheel is a flywheel adapted to store energy and to transfer such energy directly to the supporting surface to propel the vehicle along in a straight path while the vehicle body itself can rotate out of alignment with the path of travel.
In the illustrated embodiment, the toy vehicle comprises a body, a wheel support means rotatably mounted about a generally vertical axis on the body, and a single supporting wheel rotatably mounted on the wheel support means about a generally horizontal axis in position for peripheral engagement with the supporting surface. The toy vehicle includes a gear rack engageable with a pinion gear on the flywheel for effecting rapid rotation of the flywheel whereby the flywheel serves as a gyroscopic rotor to guide the vehicle along a straight line, as well as providing a balancing drive wheel for the vehicle.
The toy vehicle also has a spring biased latch-release mechanism operatively associated between the flywheel frame and the vehicle body. A figure is positionable on top of the vehicle engageable with a portion of the latch-release mechanism to hold the vehicle body in a forwardly directed disposition (i.e., the direction of movement of the vehicle in response to rotation of the flywheel). If the figure is knocked off of the vehicle, the latch-release mechanism assumes a release condition as the vehicle body is capable of rotating in a horizontal plane relative to the flywheel frame. In the exemplary embodiment, the latch-release mechanism has a spring which, when released, positively effects the horizontal rotation of the vehicle body relative to the flywheel frame, thus giving the impression of a skidding or sliding vehicle.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.